Dark Tower TV Show Lands at Amazon

It looks like The Dark Tower TV series has found a home on Amazon. The idea for the series has been kicking around for years and was envisioned to be a companion piece for the movies, which were to kick off with last year's big screen adaptation of Stephen King's beloved series of novels. However, the movie tanked and that means a sequel is unlikely, but the series is still happening and now, after months of hearing nothing, we have word that Amazon will be home to this small screen adaptation of The Dark Tower.

The news was buried in an unrelated story published by Deadline. Amazon has also picked up the rights to develop a series based on Iain M Banks' Culture novels as part of a push by the company to branch out into more "big scope" genre. While discussing this shift in the report, they mention, somewhat casually, that The Dark Tower TV series will be happening over at Amazon as well. Here's what Deadline had to say about it.

"Consider Phlebas is part of Amazon's push into big scope genre series, science fiction, action, fantasy and horror, an area Tal Yguado had been tapped to oversee early last year before becoming Amazon's head of scripted in the fall, following the exit of the studio's top executives. As part of the effort, Amazon made a mega deal for a Lord Of the Rings TV series and is developing a slew of high-profile titles, including The Dark Tower, Wheel of Time, Ringworld, Lazarus and Snow Crash."

If this is indeed true, it sounds like Amazon may have quietly scooped up what could be a potentially huge show. Granted, the movie bombed at the box office and didn't do much for critics, but The Dark Tower could really benefit from a TV adaptation. Part of the movie's problem is that it was trying to cram too much into a very small window of time. With a TV series, those ideas and the massive, sprawling world that Stephen King created can be more fully explored and developed.

As for what The Dark Tower show winding up at Amazon means? It's tough to say at this point. We know that Ron Howard and his long time producing partner Brian Grazer are likely still involved. Last we heard, former The Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara had been hired as showrunner and executive producer for The Dark Tower series. Beyond that, a lot is up in the air. Though, Idris Elba did express his desire to return as Roland the Gunslinger in the TV series. How realistic that is at this point is quite difficult to say, especially since Amazon may want to distance themselves from The Dark Tower movie.

This is likely to be a high-dollar deal for Amazon, but they're not afraid to spend money on premium content. Their Lord of the Rings TV series is said to possibly cost as much as $1 billion, when all's said and done. In September of 2016, it was reported that The Dark Tower TV series would be adapting King's novel The Wizard and the Glass from the series of books, but there's no word on whether or not that's still going to be the case. This news was first reported by Deadline.